5/26: The Tower of London and Armour with a Bulge

I learned a lot about British Culture regarding ancient armors and weapons during my Alex Ahuja-guided tour of the Tower of London. Unfortunately, due to the line which stretched down to the entrance of the compound, we were unable to see the Crown Jewels (which was fine by me, as I had already seen them before on my previous trip) but going through the White Tower was a very cool way to witness many different sets of ancient armor. My favorite (pictured below) was a set of armor, the only set of armor, which had a large bulge used to protect the wearer’s genital area. It was cool to see all of the different King’s various armor sets, for example Henry VIII’s and Edward II’s, and there was a display which held the armor that was worn by “The Giant and The Dwarf”, which reminded me of The Mountain and Arya Stark from the early seasons of Game of Thrones. Inside the White Tower there was also a toilet on a higher floor, which was seemingly used to dump the waste directly into what would have been the moat. It reminded me of other castle I have been in, where above the gates there would be holes to pour feces, boiling water, or other liquids to deter invaders and I find this to be a very silly tactic. After moving on from the White Tower, we toured The Bloody Tower and I read about how Ann Boleyn, the second of Henry VIII’s wives, was held captive there for 17 days after being accused of adultery, before being beheaded. I have always been interested in Henry VIII’s wives because of the musical Six, but specifically Ann Boleyn because of the TV miniseries which shares her name. Lastly, when my group was climbing some stairs to take pictures from the wall of the compound, we realized that a tour guide had pointed us out to a large group of guests who he was lecturing to and referred to Amelia as “her Highness” which was a very cool and unique experience, despite the group probably laughing at our “American-isms.” The Tower of London was a very cool historical site to visit which was both fun with friends and educational and I would recommend to anyone who is visiting the city.